Elon Musk has made a bold move in his ongoing clash with Sam Altman. Leading a group of investors, he submitted an unsolicited $97.4 billion offer to acquire OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. This marks an escalation in the fight for control over the company, which was originally founded as a nonprofit organization.
no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 10, 2025
Altman wasted no time in responding with a firm, “No, thanks.” The news, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, was later confirmed by Musk’s attorney, Mark Toberoff, who stated that the offer had already been submitted. Staying true to his provocative style, Musk reacted on X (formerly Twitter) by calling Altman a “fraud” and sharing a video titled “Scam Altman.”
This hostile takeover bid complicates Altman’s plans, as he aims to transform OpenAI into a for-profit company and invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure through a new project called Stargate. Musk and Altman, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, already had an ongoing legal dispute over the company’s direction.
“This is the time for OpenAI to return to being a force for good, focused on safety and open-source principles, as it was in the beginning,” Musk stated in a message released through his attorney. “We will make sure this happens,” he added.
Altman, not one to back down, fired back on X with a sharp and ironic response: “No thanks, but if you want, we’ll buy Twitter for $9.74 billion.” His comment referenced the price Musk paid for the platform ($42 billion) while playfully tweaking the OpenAI offer amount by shifting the decimal point.
So far, OpenAI has not issued an official response to Musk’s bid. However, his interference could impact the valuation of the nonprofit arm of the company, which still holds a stake in the for-profit subsidiary established in 2019.
Musk’s proposal is backed by his own AI company, xAI, which would merge with OpenAI if the deal goes through. Other investors involved include Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital, and 8VC, led by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. Ari Emanuel, CEO of entertainment agency Endeavor, is also supporting the bid through an investment fund.
Musk has taken his dispute with OpenAI to court, accusing Altman and his team of betraying the company’s original mission by prioritizing profits and aligning with Microsoft, its biggest investor, to dominate AI development. He has even echoed critics who claim Altman is more focused on financial gains than the potential risks AI poses to humanity.
OpenAI, on the other hand, has dismissed Musk’s allegations, calling them baseless. In December, the company released documents showing that Musk initially supported converting OpenAI into a for-profit entity but later changed his stance when he realized he wouldn’t have control over it.
With this latest move, the battle for OpenAI is more heated than ever.
